Free An Early Grave by Robert McCracken

cuts, just the burn marks on her chest, inflicted after death, and red scuffs on both knees. It was apparent that sexual intercourse had taken place, traces of semen and gel or oily substances consistent with lubricant materials found on her thighs, lower abdomen and vaginal area. SOCO found nothing in the immediate vicinity of the body. No clothing, shoes or personal items such as handbag or make-up in the bedroom. A sweep of the remainder of the house revealed nothing that could be related directly to the girl. The three bed-room terrace was furnished with basic items: beds in each room, a sofa in the lounge, a cooker, refrigerator and washing machine in the kitchen, all consistent with a property used and advertised as a furnished let. There were sheets, pillows and duvets on the beds in each room except where the victim was discovered. It seemed plausible that the duvet and pillows had been removed from there, leaving only the top urine-soaked sheet on the mattress. There were some articles of food in the kitchen: milk, low-fat spread and an open carton of orange juice in the fridge. Cupboards held some basic utensils, crockery, several wine glasses and tumblers. There was also an electric kettle and a toaster; a box of eighty tea bags, already open, sat on the work-top beside a jar of instant coffee. All items had been removed for forensic examination. Fingerprints were lifted from the internal and external doors, from the kitchen work-tops and the banister on the stairs.
    With no positive identification for the victim, Tara began to realise the enormity of the task ahead. The best lead they had was the suggestion about the activities carried on in the house, the making of pornographic films. Precious little to work on, and the idea had still to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt considering the dubious reliability of the witness, Callum Armour. A more definite piece of evidence was the Polish word, kurwa , burned into the flesh of the victim. With a Polish national identified as the house owner it suggested that the girl also came from Poland, and this was a murder within that particular ex-pat community. She knew that Tweedy would launch a public appeal for information if nothing was forthcoming soon.
    Mingling within her frustration over the girl’s murder were the bits and pieces of stories she’d read in that morbid box-file presented to her by Callum Armour. Much of it was a muddle of facts with his supposition and outlandish theories, but she found it hard to dismiss the account of his wife’s death. Yes, it was declared an accident, but Callum was so adamant about the blank sympathy card and the time at which he took possession of it.
    Deciding that for the moment she’d reached an impasse with her case, she ran a quick search on her computer, looking for any stories relating to the accident which claimed the lives of Tilly Reason and her daughter. A couple of items from the archives of the Oxford Mail displayed the original report on the deaths, and she found also the account of the inquest. It may have been the same report she’d read from the box-file, but she skimmed through it anyway looking for anything to give credence to Armour’s beliefs that his family had been murdered at the level crossing in Shiplake. She found plenty of articles on the dangers of un-gated level-crossings and noted with astonishment that out of eight thousand level crossings in Britain, two per cent did not have gates. Over three hundred accidents and near misses occurred each year. Police and motoring organisations blamed much of it on the contempt drivers had for the warning systems in place at level crossings. It was a sad fact that many drivers and pedestrians played Russian Roulette in using them. Shiplake had long been cited as a disaster waiting to happen, and Tara was relieved to note that major improvements were planned for the crossing that had claimed, among others, the lives of Callum’s wife and daughter.